


Seijoh Birthday Tradition

by BooksandKpop



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: First Kiss, Fluff, Getting Together, Happy Birthday Kindaichi, M/M, birthday kisses, oikawa attempts to get his kouhai together, volleyball traditions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-05
Updated: 2020-06-05
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:21:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24559855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BooksandKpop/pseuds/BooksandKpop
Summary: “It’s the Seijoh birthday tradition! Since it’s your first birthday with us, you get treated to birthday kisses by the whole team!”Kindaichi celebrates his birthday with the volleyball team and gets kisses from everyone, and a little more from the one person he really cares about.
Relationships: Kindaichi Yuutarou/Kunimi Akira
Comments: 6
Kudos: 188





	Seijoh Birthday Tradition

**Author's Note:**

  * For [emidrawshq](https://archiveofourown.org/users/emidrawshq/gifts).



> KINKUNI NATION PLEASE WELCOME ME!! 
> 
> This fic goes out to my darling Emi who introduced me to the joys of this ship and constantly keeps us fed! Happy birthday to you too angel, I hope you enjoy this fluffy mess!

“I really don’t think it’s necessary Oikawa-san, I would much rather -”

“But it’s  _ tradition _ !”

There were a few things that Kindaichi had learned in his years playing with one Oikawa Tooru. Most of them were volleyball related, several were to do with aliens and girls, and there were even a couple of genuine life lessons in there too - although they mostly were influenced by the presence of Iwaizumi. But there was something far more important than any words his captain could ever say, and that was the tone of voice he used to say them. Which was why, despite the panicked fluttering in his chest and the twisting feeling in his gut, Kindaichi did not argue with Oikawa’s insistence. 

So that was how at 11 pm on the eve of his birthday, Kindaichi found himself blindfolded and being not-so-gently led by Matsukawa and Hanamaki towards his possible doom. Well, it probably wasn’t actually going to be his doom, but he felt justified in his feelings of foreboding. Especially considering just how much giggling his two upperclassmen were doing as they pulled and prodded him along a somewhat uneven surface. 

His sense of time and distance were severely hampered by not being able to see anything, but he guessed that it had been nearly fifteen minutes of treacherous walking before he was finally pulled to a stop. Kindaichi strained his ears for any clues about where they had taken him after he met them at the school gates, or even if there was anyone else around. But it was silent, save for the breathing of the two slightly shorter players standing either side of him. And then, a noise that he would recognise in his sleep and a voice he was very familiar with rang out. 

“Are you ready kids?”

“AYE AYE CAPTAIN!”

Kindaichi’s hands flew to his ears in an attempt to muffle the overly enthusiastic response. Hands were once again pulling and pushing at him until he climbed up the steps and heard the recognizable squeak of his shoes against the gym floor. The blindfold was tugged off and after a few squints and rapid blinks, he opened his eyes. 

They hadn’t led him away from the school at all, instead, Matsukawa and Hanamaki seemed to have just walked him around in circles for long enough to confuse him. And it worked. Because he most certainly had not been expecting to end up in the school gym with the volleyball team all holding balloons and wearing colourful party hats. Even Kyoutani had one of the paper hats perched on his head, although he certainly didn’t look pleased about it. 

“What’s going on?”

At least his voice didn’t crack, so that was a score in Kindaichi’s book. Although the look of pure glee on Oikawa’s face was far from comforting. 

“It’s the Seijoh birthday tradition! Since it’s your first birthday with us, you get treated to birthday kisses by the whole team!”

There it was again, that word - tradition. It was the emphasis on that single word that made Kindaichi give up when Oikawa had told him to come here in the first place. Now he wished he had at least asked what the tradition was. Maybe he could have mentally prepared himself, for all the good that would have done. He was so busy trying to think about something to say that he didn’t get to protest when he was dragged to sit on a chair set out on the gym floor. Having all his upperclassmen around him made him panicky at the best of times, and that was when Kindaichi was able to look down at most of them with his extra height. But now they were all staring down at him, and it made him even more nervous. 

“Stop crowding him or he’s going to pass out.”

Kindaichi froze. He was certain that all the colour and life drained from his face hearing his friends voice. Because here was the thing. As much as he would deny it if anyone ever asked, Kindaichi didn’t mind too much the idea of birthday kisses from most of the team. While they would tease him about it, he knew that neither Hanamaki nor Matsukawa would actually try to kiss him on the lips, and he had a good enough relationship with everyone that it might be a little awkward, but not uncomfortable. Especially not since it was a tradition, and they all would have gone through this exact same thing. There was one person on the team who hadn’t been through this before though. And he was the one person that Kindaichi most definitely wouldn’t mind a real kiss from. 

“No need to be so blunt Kunimi. Okay okay, line up in age order so we can get started! Our darling Kindaichi-kun is going to get two kisses from everyone!”

There was a bit of shuffling and Kindaichi just sat with his hands clasped tightly in his lap, waiting for the inevitable. Iwaizumi was up first. Kindaichi valiantly tried to not let a blush rise across his cheeks as the ace stepped up to him. The first kiss was a press to the top of his head, he could barely feel it through his half-styled hair. The second was on his temple, just a gentle brush of lips against the skin before he was standing up again.

“Happy birthday Kindaichi.”

Oikawa all but shoved the vice-captain out of the way for his turn. He approached with a wide grin and mischief in his eyes that made Kindaichi briefly fear for his safety in this situation. 

“As your  _ favourite  _ senpai I really should have gone first, but then again they do say that second is best. Happy birthday Kindaichi-kun!”

Two hands grabbed his face and Kindaichi shut his eyes as a self-protection reaction. He heard good-natured laughter from the others and then Oikawa was pressing an obnoxious kiss to each of his cheeks. His lips were soft and he definitely made those noises on purpose. But Kindaichi smiled at the satisfied look on his captains face anyway. Hanamaki was next with and rolled his eyes as Oikawa flounced away. He kissed Kindaichi’s left cheek and the centre of his forehead.

“Happy birthday my favourite child. Don’t sign anything Mattsun gives you.”

He couldn’t help the laugh that he let out as Hanamaki threw him a peace sign and made way for Matsukawa. While he was never entirely sure what to expect from the older middle blocker, he was still surprised when he dropped to one knee and produced a piece of paper from somewhere.

“My darling Kindaichi, I have raised you to be the best middle blocker you can be. On this, the anniversary of your day of birth, I would like to formally adopt you as my own.”

If his face had been red with Iwaizumi had approached him, it was probably nothing compared to the heat he could feel flushing across his face as he read the words  **‘Baby Middle Blocker Adoption Form’** in Matsukawa’s messy scrawl. Kindaichi took the paper and then jumped when a kiss was pressed to the knuckles on each of his hands in quick succession. Laughter erupted around the room and Kindaichi let himself laugh with them as Matsukawa stood and ruffled his hair with a pleasant grin on his face. Watari was next, and he easily took the paper from Kindaichi’s hands and shoved it into one of his many pockets. 

“Happy birthday angel.”

A kiss to his cheek and the tip of his nose and with a wink, Watari was gone. Kindaichi had a full thirty seconds to process what had happened before a very put-out Kyoutani was standing in his personal space. He thought he heard a murmured ‘happy birthday’ from under the spiker’s breath but it could have been his imagination. Despite what he was expecting, the kisses on both sides of his face were tender and gentle, and if Kindaichi couldn’t feel the heat from the places they were pressed and the embarrassed blush on Kyoutani’s face he would have been convinced he imagined the kisses too. 

Yahaba was next and took his sweet time walking up to Kindaichi and looking down at him. He was going to be captain next year and they were closer in age than they were to the others in their own years. When no kisses came after a minute Kindaichi tilted his head further up and was ready to question the setter when he leaned down and pressed a firm kiss to his forehead and another one very close to the corner of his mouth. 

“Happy birthday Kindaichi. Only one left.”

He said it quiet enough that Kindaichi was certainly the only person to hear it. But the words were enough to make him freeze up all over again. Because sure, he knew that of course there was one more person on the team who had to give him the traditional birthday kisses. That did absolutely nothing to calm the rapid pounding of his heart in his chest and the way his stomach dropped. Yahaba smirked and walked away, back to the rest of the team. Kindaichi risked looking over at them and hoped that his face didn’t look as overwhelmed as he felt. 

Oikawa and Hanamaki were slowly but surely pushing the last of the team forward, towards where he was sitting. Kindaichi’s eyes flicked to the side and startled when Matsukawa gave him a big thumbs up and Watari winked again. And then he couldn’t see them anymore because Oikawa was standing there and he automatically shifted his gaze to the front. He wished he didn’t though. Because Kunimi looked like he would rather be anywhere but here. Anywhere but about to give Kindaichi a birthday kiss. 

“It’s tradition. And you have the honour of giving the birthday boy the special sixteenth kiss! Aren’t you lucky Kunimi-kun.”

This time their captain’s tone of voice was teasing, but hinting at being stern. It was very clear that Kunimi was not going to get away without taking part in this stupid tradition. Kindaichi wished that his friend didn’t look so absolutely horrified at the idea of having to kiss him. He would rather like to kiss Kunimi, in a ‘definitely more than friends’ way, in an ‘I have been crushing on you for over a year’ way. Although, he also didn’t exactly want to kiss his crush in front of their whole team. Once again he was so caught up in his head he didn’t even notice Kunimi shuffling closer and leaning down until they were eye level. 

“Happy birthday. I have an actual present for you after this.”

Kindaichi didn’t even realise he had closed his eyes until he felt the kiss pressed to his eyelids, and then another to his chin. His heart was beating so fast surely Kunimi could hear it. Then he was stepping back and Kindaichi opened his eyes to find his friend staring down at their feet and Oikawa watching them with a faintly annoyed look on his face. It disappeared as soon as he saw Kindaichi looking at him, and so he clapped his hands together and smiled brightly. 

“Well, now that we have all given our sweet birthday boy his kisses as per tradition, it’s time for cake!”

Eating cake in his school gym at quarter to midnight before his sixteenth birthday with his high school volleyball team was a memory Kindaichi would treasure forever. They sang to him, a horrendous cacophony with only Oikawa actually trying to sound good while Matsukawa and Hanamaki were purposely hitting the wrong notes. He laughed all the same and thanked them all for the surprise. They waited until the date turned over and cheered loudly before they very quickly started grabbing balloons and hurrying to leave the gym. He laughed a lot at that too, as he was sent home by Iwaizumi while the third-years hung back to lock up. 

They parted ways with the second years at the school gates, all of them wishing him happy birthday again before beginning their own walks home. It wasn’t until he and Kunimi were halfway towards their own houses that Kindaichi remembered the whispered words his friend had said to him earlier. His feet slowed down, dragging a little until he was half a step behind Kunimi. It didn’t go unnoticed. 

“We’re almost there.”

Instead of continuing on the path that would lead them home, Kunimi turned left and pulled Kindaichi along with him to the playground. They sat side-by-side on the swings and just gently swung back and forth for a while. It was warm out and quiet. Kindaichi tilted his head back to gaze up at all the stars that were out and tried to remember some of the constellations Oikawa had pointed out to him before. It was a fruitless exercise when his head was so full of thoughts of the boy beside him. The thump of his heart against his ribs at how close he had stood, the lingering spark against his skin where Kunimi had left him gentle kisses. 

“How does it feel to be sixteen?”

“No different than it felt to turn fifteen I guess.”

It was the truth, he didn’t feel overly different or special now. He dug his heels into the sand beneath him when Kunimi moved off his own swing and stood in front of Kindaichi for the second time in less than an hour. This time though, it was just the two of them. No nosy seniors watching them, just the moon shining down and making a halo of silver appear at the top of Kunimi’s head. He looked really pretty like this. 

“Here.”

He held out a small wrapped box to him, and Kindaichi took it from his hands. Inside was a bracelet sitting on pale blue tissue paper, the colour of their volleyball uniforms. The band was leather, dark grey in colour, and there was a small silver clasp holding it together. It was simple and practical. Kindaichi swallowed back the lump that had risen in his throat.

“Thank you. I love it.”

When he looked up Kunimi was watching him with bright eyes. Kindaichi suddenly felt very exposed, as if all of his feelings for his friend had been dragged to the surface for him to see and judge. But Kunimi didn’t judge him, he never had. Not when he accidentally packed a too-small t-shirt in his gear bag and had to put his school shirt back on after training. Not when he somehow managed to trip over his own two feet and knock both his and Kunimi’s lunches to the ground. Not even when he was being dramatic and refusing to let go of his grudge against Kageyama. Kunimi just hid a laugh in his hand, rolled his eyes, or hit him on the arm and he always waited for Kindaichi to be by his side before walking home.

“I’m glad you like it. Can I put it on you?”

He just nodded, Kunimi took another step closer. Kindaichi was certain that his pulse could be felt as his friend delicately took the bracelet from the box and fastened the clasp around Kindaichi’s wrist. It fit perfectly and stood out nicely against the tan of his skin. Kindaichi turned his head up, to say thank you again, but the words died in his throat when he saw how close Kunimi was. 

“I have one more thing for you.”

Kindaichi couldn’t move, couldn’t tear his eyes away from Kunimi who was right there, staring back at him. He saw the spiker take a deep, shaky breath, lick his lips and then lean in. His eyes closed again, as if on instinct. This time though, there was no kiss to his eyelids or his chin. This time, Kunimi’s lips met his own. It was short, just a brief press of their lips together, but when Kunimi pulled away Kindaichi forgot how to breathe. 

“Happy birthday, Yuutarou.”

The shorter player was flushed a pretty pink, and Kindaichi thought this was the best present he could ever have gotten. Apparently, the kiss had knocked out his brain to mouth filter because those words came spilling out, causing Kunimi to blush even further. They talked a bit after that, as they sat side-by-side on the swings holding hands and confessing feelings. Kindaichi’s heart leapt in his chest at every word out of the younger boy's mouth. It was the most incredible feeling. 

As they walked home later, fingers still intertwined and cheeks flushed, Kindaichi supposed he had to thank Oikawa for his stupid birthday tradition after all. It meant he would get to give Kunimi birthday kisses when his time rolled around too. Although, he definitely would be sharing plenty of kisses with his boyfriend before then too.


End file.
